Senate Republicans Choose Cooke as New Majority Whip

Colorado Senate Republicans today elected Senator John Cooke (R-Greeley) to serve as Majority Whip for the next two years, a job colleagues jokingly compared to “herding cats.” The Whip’s job is to track where colleagues stand on bills and ensure that the votes are there when needed.

Republicans retained control of the Colorado Senate, by a one vote margin, in Tuesday’s elections, continuing a winning streak they haven’t enjoyed for nearly 20 years.

Cooke’s election to the critically important leadership post is a measure of the respect he has among colleagues. He said after the vote that he was “humbled and honored” by the responsibility and believes the new role will make him an even more effective advocate for District 13 when the 2017 session begin in January.

“Having the kind of regular interactions with colleagues that the Whip job requires increases the opportunity to share information, ideas and strategies for getting good things done on the Senate floor,” said Cooke. “That can’t help but improve my ability to help the district at the Capitol.”

Cooke says one of his top priorities for 2017 is ensuring that the state doesn’t continue to waste money implementing Obama White House mandates that may not remain in force under the new administration, starting with the so-called Clean Power Plan.

“Republicans will be renewing our efforts to stop Colorado from complying with, or adopting without voter approval, constitutionally-dubious mandates that are either tied-up in court or may be reversed by a new Republican administration,” Cooke said. “Voters earlier this week sent a clear message to the other party that the old, Washington-knows-best way of operating is unacceptable. We see this as an opportunity to also fundamentally change the one-sided relationship between Colorado and Washington, by seeking relief from unnecessary and unconstitutional regulatory burdens.”